wordful wednesday and the food bag phenomenon

back in september we jumped on the 'bandwagon' that is my food bag

my food bag is the brainchild of an ex-corporate executive and a previous new zealand master chef

every sunday night 3 brown bags (2 of which are FULL of fresh vegetables) are delivered to my kitchen counter.

free range

organic

with recipes

all for less than $10 per head per meal

that's for 4 people for 5 nights a week

(although we've made it stretch to 6 and most nights it feeds 5)

why did no-one think of this sooner?

it's frikking brilliant.  full stop.

here's just a SAMPLING of our 'fare' from the past few weeks

chicken metballs

prawn and me goreng noodles 

 salmon fillet.  oh the salmon...

 lamb kebabs

and the duck.  who can forget the duck?

i'd never cooked it before.  sooooo good 

for more wordful wednesday posts, hop on over and see angie here!

photostory friday: where limes collide

so here's how i came to make my VERY FIRST cheesecake

tara made this cheesecake and  told me about it via email and it sounded just DIVINE!

then friends of ours gave me a giant bag of limes

so what's a girl to do?

make her very first cheesecake.  EVER!!!

easy peasy biscuit base that gets cooked first

miss 14 juicing the limes

large quantities of cream cheese and sour cream

yummy to lick!

cheesecake mixture on top of base - cooked on low heat for 50 mins

candying the limes

sugaring the limes

sugaring the limes MACRO style!

hmmmmm - then when you leave the house, your husband (who has had NO part of the process up until this point) - takes the cheesecake out of the oven and pops the spring form pan and this giant crack [in the universe] appears!!!

grrrrrrrrr

but i couldn't be mad, coz when i came home, miss 14 says to me

"mum!  i didn't stuff it up!!!"

(she was in charge of the 50-minute cooking bit)

so when life gives you cracked cheesecake

you make a smiley face

KEY LIME PIE

BASE

150g digestive biccies finely crushed (graham crackers)

2 tablespoons sugar

50g butter, melted

FILLING

570g cream cheese (not low fat), softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup sour cream (not low fat)

3 tablespoons plain flour

3 large eggs

3/4 cup lime juice

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

CANDIED LIME

1 cup water

1 1/2 cups caster sugar

3-4 limes , thinly sliced

La Method

Preheat oven to 190 degrees (C)

Combine bisc crumbs and sugar, stir in butter. Pat mixture evenly onto the bottom and 1cm up the side of a buttered 25cm springform tin. Bake the base in the centre of the oven for 8 mins. Transfer pan to a rack and set aside to cool.

Beat together the cream cheese and sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. Beat in the sour cream and flour, then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add the lime juice and vanilla, beat until smooth. Pour the filling over the base and bake for 15 mins, then reduce the temperature to 120 degrees and bake for 50-55 minutes or until the centre is BARELY set. Allow to cool on a rack, then refrigerate overnight, covered.

For the candied lime, place the water and one cup of the sugar in a pan. Boil until the sugar dissolves. Add the lime slices and simmer for 10 minutes. Meanwhile place the rest of the sugar on a flat tray.

Remove the limes from the heat , strain and dry on absorbent paper. Cool slightly then place one at a time on the tray of sugar to coat. Place around the edge of the cheesecake in an overlapping manner and serve.

...and here's a measurements converter for anyone who needs it!

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

wordful wednesday: just like pioneer woman's, but blurry and without the chips

i really do take my hat off to PW - how she photographs EVERY stage of cooking a meal

it was all i could do to get this photo in decent light (had to photoshop later of course!) before the hungry masses bore down on me and scooped up, what turned out to be a very popular (and easy to prepare) meal!

thanks P-DUB!

although most of my family have NO idea who you are

(despite the fact that i talk about you all the time),

they sure do love your recipes, and (so far), the sloppy joes all appear demon-free, as do my children

(well, mostly...)

for more wordful wednesday, visit angie over @ seven clown circus

do want the recipe?

well, here it is!